1/2 Balboa Piedfort

Panama's piedfort issues of the early 1980s were produced specifically for collectors and never entered circulation. The .400 fine gold composition is unusual — not a standard bullion fineness, not a jewelry standard — chosen presumably to hit a target weight and cost rather than any metallurgical convention. Piedforts by definition are struck at double the standard planchet thickness, though at 1.555 g this piece is exceptionally light even accounting for its 17 mm diameter, suggesting the "piedfort" designation here follows the collector-series logic of the era rather than strict traditional definition.